The Bantam Titans won't be able to charge into playoff contention after losing on the road 18-6 against to the Westside Warriors on Sunday (Oct. 28), but the toughest barrier to bust through still beckons.
The Titans go head to head with the undefeated South Delta Rams on Sunday (Nov. 4) at Don Ross Secondary School. The defending provincial and Vancouver Mainland Football League champion Rams won all nine of their previous contests, outscoring their opponents 355 to 56.Despite entering the game with just a single win, the underdog Titans are looking to corral the Rams using the heart and determination they've shown all season long. Coach Rob Ryan said the team is chasing as much of the fleeting after-school daylight as possible to prepare. He's developing a tight series of plays that should complement the Titan's small stature.
"We're a pretty small team physically, so we're trying to get a little bit more play action passing to the outside to try and counter the strengths of the other team a little bit," he said. "But it doesn't really sound like they have too many weaknesses."
Quarterback Cory Constantin's throwing arm is improved after tweaking it three weeks ago. The offensive plan is to spread the passing to the outside.
"Hopefully it will do two things: it will create more running room for him and also we've got to get away from the strengths of middle linebacker and safety -that's where everyone powers up at this level."
Ryan said last weekend's game against Westside showed the boys are in good shape - especially the defence, which played its best game of the season on Sunday.
In fact, the Titans held the Warriors to 12 points with 20 seconds left in the game, but a touchdown off an interception added a final six points.
"They have one of the best running backs, he's about 6-foot 200 pounds with good speed, but we did a really good job of shutting him down."Ryan said Nolan Prevost also played the best game of the season, sprinting a stellar 80-yard run that set Constantin up for an outside sweep touchdown.
However, the Titan offence turned the ball over twice while in scoring position: a fumble on the Warriors' goal line and an interception in the red zone. Ryan said they have to correct those kinds of mistakes to win games.
Even if the Titans lose to the Rams, they will still battle the North Shore Wolverines for the North Shore Championship on Nov. 25. The Titans and Wolverines are the only Gordon Sturtridge League teams in the VMFL.
